


Bocca della Verità

by FacelessBee



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Misgendering, Other, Reincarnation, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:20:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25617985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FacelessBee/pseuds/FacelessBee
Summary: To seal away a part of a person's soul is to curse them to a slow death, but children are fragile things, and sometimes actions done with the best of intentions can still hurt them. So when an adult takes an action that never was made in good faith to being with, well it should be of no surprise that death can happen.But there is still a cosmic plan that needs to be followed, and one soul is just as good as another in the eyes of immortals.
Kudos: 28





	Bocca della Verità

Curling the phone line around her finger, Nana nervously chewed at her lips as she listened to the dial tone. This was the fifth time she had tried calling, and still no answer.

Iemetsu had left her a phone number for emergencies, and she had never felt the need to call it before. Until now.

Her darling husband had been away for business for almost seven months, the longest he had ever gone without even a letter or phone call from him. And in those seven months, there had been a drastic and terrifying change in their home.

Her little Tsunayoshi had changed. And not in any way she could recognize as normal for a young child. Tsunayoshi had turned five recently, and while he had always been a shy and nervous child, the changes in his behavior were far too unnatural for Nana's comfort.

At first, it had been little things. An increase of clumsy behavior, less laughing and mumbling as Tsunayoshi followed her around the house, small things that were easy to miss. Nothing too worrying, except for the bumps and scrapes Nana had to patch up. But even those weren't anything too startling since she knew children were less aware of their surroundings. Then the strange language had started cropping up.

Tsuna had been learning Japanese at a reasonable pace, colors, and numbers, and basic words coming up in daily conversation as he helped Nana around the house and watched cartoons. Now he only mumbled when speaking, and he would use foreign words Nana had never heard before. Even getting him to respond his name became a hit-or-miss endeavor. That alone would have been enough to pull Nana from her usual carefree attitude and be cause for concern.

But there were also behavioral changes. Tsunayoshi went from a clingy, shy child to a withdrawn and skittish one. Nana would still get smiles from her son when she gave him attention, but when he didn't focus on her he became quiet and distant. It was as if a fog fell over those doe-eyes, shuttering her son's thoughts away behind cold glass.

The most upsetting change in her son however, came in the form of a constant, low-grade fever that never cooled below 38 degrees. After the second day of the fever Nana had taken Tsuna to the hospital, but they had only been able to give her some medicine and advice on how to keep her son hydrated and fed. And then a week had passed and still, her son continued to register at a constant 38 degrees. The doctors had been baffled at the heightened temperature and without any other symptoms or signs of illness, they had no answers they could give her.

Aside from it making her son more easily chilled by temperate weather, the fever didn't seem to affect Tsunayoshi's health negatively. And when she had brought up her concerns about her son's sudden behavioral change the doctors had been as equally baffled. Physically, Tsunayoshi was a healthy little boy aside from his raised body temperature. She had been advised to take her son to a child psychologist, though the underlying implication that she was a failure of a mother for needing to take her son one had stopped her from following through. The little voice in the back of her head kept telling her that the doctors would find nothing useful, that involving professionals more than she already had would be asking for trouble.

There had been hushed discussions of possible abuse, something she was sure the doctors hadn't meant for her to hear. Even if she had thought that someone was hurting her little Tsunayoshi, she would have no clue how to even start investigating such a thing. She couldn't go to the police without even a hint of evidence, and if they happened to dig up anything about her then she would risk losing her son. The Hibari clan had a solid hold on the city, and Nana felt it would be in her best interest to avoid pulling their attention to her or her son.

Realizing that she was still waiting on the dial tone, she hung up the phone with a murmured curse. Nana then winced at the curious sound coming from behind her.

Tsunayoshi was standing at the door frame of the kitchen, chubby hands gripping the wooden frame as if afraid that he would tip over without it. And he probably would too, with how difficult it was for him to maintain balance now.

"Oh Tsu-kun, are you hungry." Nana moved to scoop up her son, cooing in his hair as she cuddled him. "Mama is so sorry for not starting lunch yet. She was calling papa, but couldn't get through. He is very busy after all."

"Ah. Mama, lunch. Mmmmmh!"

Nodding as she bounced her son, Nana pulled out the chair with his booster seat and sat her son on his chair. Turning to the fridge, she pulled out a handful of strawberries and the milk jar. She could make some strawberry milk to tide over her son while she made a simple lunch. And then afterward she could try calling her husband again.

* * *

Slamming the phone onto the receiver, Nana stifled her scream as the sound of cracking did little to soothe her resentment. Even the worry of having broken the phone wasn't enough to stop the anger from simmering in her gut.

That jerk! After a week of fruitless calls, she had finally reached her husband. Only for him to brush off her concerns before she had even been able to tell him the entire story.

He had the gall to laugh when she spoke of their son's sudden propensity to falling over thin air, to tell her she was overreacting when she had told him of the fever, to act as if their son's health was not his number one priority! And then, he had the gale to scold her for calling him when there was no emergency! As if it hasn't taken her a week to even reach him!

Peeking around the corner, Nana checked to make sure her little Tsunayoshi was still napping on the sofa. His little chest rose and fall in an uninterrupted pattern, reassuring the woman that her child was still hale and healthy. It was now obvious to her that something had changed in her son, something beyond fevers and an increased talent for tripping over his feet.

She had more observational abilities than people gave her credit for. And she wasn't stupid. She could tell something was terribly wrong. And now, now she felt like a blanket had been lifted from her with Iemestu's casual dismissal. Her worries and concerns that had been growing for months, were now st the forefront of her mind.

Something about her child had been changed on a fundamental level, and she was terrified by the fact that she didn't know what had caused the change. Everything she had read pointed to a trauma causing the personality shift in her son, some physical abuse making her child so acutely aware of his surroundings that he lost track of his own body. But that was impossible. It had to be. He wasn't even in school yet, so he had no peers to cause any bullying, no teachers or people with power over him to abuse and take advantage of her little boy. The only adult he ever spent significant time around was her. She didn't even leave him with a baby sitter since she had no job aside from being a mother and could take her son along for any chore that may take them outside the house.

And all those doctors. Even thinking about it made her angry. How dare Iemetsu scold her over the doctor bills, as if she wouldn't spend the entire royal treasury just to keep her son healthy. He worked a well-paying job, she had filed their taxes every single year, she was the one who balanced the accounts for their house, she knew exactly how much there was in their savings and she had been so tempted to reply with her own scalding retort before her husband had hung up on her. As if some work emergency was more important that what she had to say.

Breathing in deeply, Nana let out a gusty sigh as she tried to let go of her anger and frustration. She was better than this, letting her temper get the better of her. She had to remain calm, level headed. Most importantly, she had to find an answer.

God, what would her mother think, letting her husband treat her like an inconvenience and then leaving her alone to deal with their ill child?

Her mother... No that would only lead to disappointment and more painful words sent her way. But...

The clan would have resources she just didn't have access to in Namimori. They had connections and favors owed, and those could have only expanded since she had left.

No. She refused to go crawling back to the clan in shame. She had left them of her own free-will, and she would never go back if it meant having to apologize for choices she didn't regret. She had married for love, she had a lovely house and a caring husband and darling child...

Her house was nice, very western and trendy and with plenty of space for a big family. But with just her and Tsunayoshi is got rather lonely. All the empty rooms that would never get filled up with laughing faces and pattering feet.

Her husband was handsome, and he had swept her off her feet with romantic words and promises of forever. And now he was lord knows where claiming his work kept him busy and that was why his visits were so infrequent and often unannounced. Leaving her scrambling to get things ready for him, having to go out and buy extra food after most of the shops had already sold their best products, buying alcohol and cigarettes that she otherwise never kept in the house. And then half the time he would leave after only a few days, having spent most of the time napping on the sofa and smoking inside her... their house.

And her son. Her darling little Tsunayoshi who was a miracle and a blessing and her entire world. Who was sick, was hurting in a way she couldn't fix with kisses and band-aids.

She couldn't let things continue this way.

Gathering up her courage, and trying to stifle her trepidation and fears, Nana picked up the phone.


End file.
